Energy & Climate Change

Photo by CREDO: Cuomo Policy Summit

Hydraulic fracturing (fracking) is a hot topic these days.  Josie Garthwaite just wrote a really nice piece for Grist summarizing fracking and its socioenvironmental impacts.  I won't give away the details of Grist's article, but let me just summarize by remarking that most analyses conclude as did Garthwaite, that fracking is a really bad idea.  Given Garthwaite's analysis, should we expect to see fracking banned all over the world?    Well, no.  Let me explain why.

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We ultimately come to know about the world in one of three ways.  First, we come to know about the world through personal experience (sometimes physical, sometimes emotional).  Second, we come to know about the world in which we live through authority figures.  Parents, teachers, and other leaders teach us what they have learned through their experience and we rely on our trust in them to make sense of the world.  Third, we develop systematic "scientific" procedures for testing the world in which we live.

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Recently the Wall Street Journal ran an article titled, "No Need to Panic About Global Warming."  The article, signed by sixteen "scientists" reports that the science on climate change is weak at best and perhaps a blatant attempt by left-wing radicals to generate hysteria.  It is an interesting read!  Science is designed to evoke skepticism and discussion and as such I see nothing essentially wrong with the article as an 0p-ed (scientific accuracy aside).  My expertise and PhD focuses on the social dynamics of environmental issues rather than atmospheric models.  As such, I was immediately drawn to the names attached to the article.  Who holds this opinion I wondered?  Why these particular 16 scientists?  What are the economic and or political ramifications of publishing this today?  (Yes, this is how my mind actually works.  I'm inherently boring!)

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A few days ago we gave you a little introduction to the Audubon Society's Christmas Bird Count.  Today we have a more in depth look at that project from Jacelyn Downey,  community naturalist for Audubon Rockies.

My husband and I are really fortunate to have the job of encouraging people to get outside to enjoy nature. One my favorite ways to do this is through citizen science. Citizen science is a term used to describe a way that everyday people can learn about science and conservation by participating in scientific studies. It is so rewarding to engage the community in a project that has a real impact.

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In deciding to start an e-commerce business focused on natural products, the environmental impact of shipping has become an ongoing company discussion. The carbon emission difference between shopping at your local store and purchasing online is complex and unclear.   Calculating the carbon footprint of shipping systems and how to improve upon them is going to keep me busy for years, but that does not mean we shouldn't do everything we can now.

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Image by Woodleywonderworks

Climate scientists and climate change activists  have perfected the climate science talk.  If you haven't heard the talk yet, check out Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth".  I heard the talk again tonight from former Oregon Secretary of State Bill Bradbury.  He delivered a visually stunning and scientifically profound talk detailing the state of climate change throughout the world and particularly in the Pacific Northwest.  The room responded to the talk just as they probably responded to similar talks in the past; with audible gasps at the photographs of super-storms and the figures detailing the remarkable speed at which our temperatures are changing.  To be sure, it was a powerful talk. But here is where I am left a bit disturbed.

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Image by Vectorportal

I am currently teaching a social problems and policy course in which we discuss the rhetoric of social issues.  The point of the course is not so much about deciding whether a social issue really is a problem as it is about how social issues or "troubles" become the sort of things people define as real problems.

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Environmental activist and writer Bill McKibben led a stirring climate change conversation on Real Time with Bill Maher on Friday.  Regardless of your political leanings, the conversation is an interesting lesson in how debate and social claim is structured.  One of the most fascinating elements of social claims making is that those who are for and against any social issue tend to use exactly the same arguments to make their point. Listen to how McKibben and those selected to debate him used almost identical arguments in the video below.

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The Yale Project on Climate Change Communication has released a new report that looks at climate change beliefs against political leaning.  The report overview focuses on the 11% of voters who are still undecided in the 2012 presidential election.  The study shows that undecided voters have a position on climate change almost identical to those likely to vote for Obama.  But, what I find so intriguing about the research is the relatively few number of individuals who feel climate change isn't occurring.

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Photo by Credo Cuomo Policy Summit

When I think of Matt Damon I think espionage, car chases, corrupt politics, and dark secrets.  His new movie, "Promised Land" is in some ways just that.  Promised Land, however,  is not an action flick, it is the story of a town desperate to protect its people and its land against the risks of natural gas fracking.  For those of you still struggling to understand the socioenvironmental impacts of fracking...Matt Damon is about to explain it in Hollywood detail.

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